Railway wheel checking device



March 25, 1952 M. w. GlEsKlENG RAILWAY WHEEL CHEGKING DEVICE 2 SHEETS-SHEET l Filed Jan. 3l, 1949 INVENToR. /VAQ/a/v /fI//ES/f/f/VG BY March 25, 1952 M. w.' GIESKIENG RAILWAY WHEEL CHECKING DEVICE 2 sHEETs-sx-iEET 2 Filed Jan. 31, 1949 In 'lll f ml ml Patented Mar. 25, 1952 UNITED/1 STATES PATENT OFFICE RAELWAY WHEEL CHECKING DEVICE Marion VJ. Gieskieng, Denver, Colo. Application .l anuary 3l, 1949, Serial No. '73,679'

4 Claims.

Thisainvention relates to a device for indicatingboth the loss. of, and the condition of, railwaycar-wheels, and has for its principal object the; provision of a simple, accurate, and efficient device which will give a signal indication should afwheelof' a passing train be broken or missing.

Another object, of the inventori is to provide means for giving a signal when badly worn or broken wheel treads or f'langes'pass the actuating mechanism.

OtherV objects and advantages reside in the detail construction of the invention, which is designedfor` simplicity, economy, and efliciency. These will become more apparent from the following description.

In the following detailed description of the invention, reference is had to the accompanying drawing whichA forms a part hereof. Like numerals refer to like parts in all views of the drawing and throughout the description.

Inzthe drawing:

Fig. l isa diagrammatic plan view of a section of? railway track, illustrating one form of the missing wheel indicating mechanism applied thereto;

rail, indicating a contact device which may be employed in connection with the missing wheel indicator of Fig. l, if desired;

Fig. 61is a second diagrammatic plan view of a section ofrailway track, illustrating an alternate formzoffthe missing wheel indicator;

Fig. '7' is an enlarged, fragmentary cross-sectionv through the track of Fig. 6, taken on the Fig. Sis a cross-section of a conventional rail, indicating a form of contact device to be used for indicating worn wheel treads; and

Eig-.B is a detail'side view of the Contact device employed in 8.

' The` device illustrated in Figs. 1 to 5, inclusive, is-.designed to indicateV missing wheels on a passing train. The rails of a typical railway are indicated at I3 and IlI. The device is installed by placing a relatively short insulated rail section I5 in the rail I3 opposite a relatively long insulated rail section I6 in the Ill.

The rail sections I5 and It are electrically in-A sulfatedy` from the respective rails I3 and I 4 in any@ desired manner.

The rails, however, are electrically bonded acrossv the insulated rail sections I5 and I6 by means of bonding cables I1 and,v I8, respectively, so as not to interfere.- with blocksignal systems and other apparatusv employing the rails as an electrical conductor.

The short insulated rail section I5 and the rail I3 are connected by means of circuit wires I9 with a transformer coil 20 through a source of current, such as a battery 2l. The long insulated rail section I6 and the rail I4 are connected in circuit with a second transformer coil 22 through the medium of circuit wires 23.

The transformer coils 20 and 22 are inductively related so that surges of a current in the coil 20 will induce current in the coil 22. The induced current in the coil 22 is conducted by means of conductors 24 to any suitable signal relay device 25 for closing a circuit to produce an audible or visible signal.

The same circuit arrangement is repeated in reverse further along the rails I3 and I4, as shown at the right side of Fig. l. In the second circuit, a relatively long insulated rail section 2l is installed in the rail i3, and a relatively short insulated rail section 2s is installed in the rail IQ. The rails Ill and I3 are bonded across their respective insulated rail sections 26 and 21 by means of suitable bonding cables 28, and are connected to inductively related coils in a transformer 29 by means of suitable conductors 30. The transformer coil circuit from the short rail section 25 includes a current source 3|, and the conductors 30 from the long section 21 include a suitable signal relay 32, as in the previ- `ously described circuit.

,Let us assume that a car truck be moving4 to the right along the rails I3 and I4. A typical wheel and axle set of the truck is indicated in broken line at 33 in Figs. 2, 3, and 4. The righthand wheel of the set 33 will roll onto the long rail section IE, as shown in Fig. 2. This shortcircuits the transformer coil 22 through the conductors 23, the long section I6, and through the truck and the remaining wheels ofv the latter to the rail III, as indicated by the broken-line circuit A in Fig. 2.

The wheel then rolls onto the short section I5, closing a circuit with the rail I3 through the conductors I9 with the transformer coil 2%, as shown 3 roll over the sections 2'! and 26. In the latter case the output coil or" the transformer 29 s short-circuited by the wheels on the lrail I3 and rail section 21, and the input coil is energized by the wheels on the rail I4, closing contact with the section 26.

Now let us assume that the right Wheel of the set is missing. No contact will be made with the long section I6 prior to the wheel contact with the section I5. 'I'he latter contact closes a circuit through the input transformer coil and induces a voltage in the output transformer coil 22 to impress voltage on the signal relay 25 to give a signal indication.

Should the left wheel be missing, no current with flow to the signal relay 25, but a signal Will be given through the signal relay 32 when the remaining wheel of the set 33 rolls onto the short insulated rail section 26.

In Figs. 6 and 7 a form 0f missing wheel indicator is illustrated which obtains the same results as the circuits of Fig. l without requiring transformers or insulated track sections.

In this form a relatively short depressible plate 36 is mounted upon a bracket 3l inside the rail 34. The plate 35 extends beneath the path of the fiange of a wheel traveling on the rail 34 so as to be depressed by flange contact. Depression of the plate 35 forces an insulating block 4) against a first contact blade 38 to cause it to make contact with a second contact blade 39.

A relatively long, depressible contact plate 4| is mounted on a bracket 31 secured to the rail 35. The plate 4I is positioned in the path of the wheel flanges and, when depressed, acts to open a contact between a contact blade 42 and a blade 43 through themediurn of an insulating block 44..

A conductor 45 leads from a signal relay 43 to the blade 43. A cross conductor 4'I leads from the blade 42 to the blade 38. A battery conductor 48 leads from the blade 39 through a battery 49 to the signal relay 45.

Further along the track the same set-up is repeated and connected with a second signal relay 50. In the latter case, however, the short plate 35 is mounted adjacent the rail 35 and the long plate 4I is mounted adjacent the rail 34.

In operation, a pair of wheels on a common axle rolling to the right along the rails 34 and 35 will first contact the plate 4I, opening the circuit between the blades 42 and 43. The opposite wheel will then contact the plate 3B, closing the circuit between the blades 38 and 39. Since the circuit is open, however, at blades 42 and 43, no signal current will ow to the signal relay 45.

Should the right wheel be missing, however, the plate 4I will not be depressed and the circuit will remain closed between the blades 42 and 43 so that when closed by the plate 36, a circuit will be completed to the signal relay 46. Should the left wheel be missing, the circuit will not be opened beneath the second plate 4I, so that a closure at the plate 36 will complete a circuit to the second signal relay 53.

The specific mechanism for making and breaking the circuits is simply illustrative. Other forms of switch mechanisms could be used to obtain the same final result. While the plates illustrated are operated by the wheel flanges, they could, of course, be similarly operated by any other part of the Wheel.

The metallic contact between the Wheels and the rails I3 and I4, and between the wheels and the insulated rail sections, will be usually surficient to operate the system of Fig. 1. It itis desired to avoid false indications caused by flat Wheels, bouncing Wheels, etc., a relatively long spring contact strip 5I can be mounted along the track sections I5, I6, 26, and 2l, as shown in Fig. 5. The spring strip 5I projects suiilciently :far above the rail to insure a perfect resilient contact with the Wheel.

As the treads of railway wheels Wear away, a groove is formed therein which allows the rim and the flange to project downwardly dangerously far below the top of the rail. In Fig. 8 a device is illustrated for detecting such a condition, comprising a cross bolt 52 which is extended through, and insulated from, the rail, indicated at 53 in Fig. 8.

A spring sleeve 54 is threaded on each extremity of the bolt 52. A resilient contact member 55 projects upwardly from each sleeve 54. The sleeves are adjusted on the bolt 52 to place the upper extremities of the contact members 55 at the legal limit for downwardly projecting rims and flanges. They are then set in this position in any desired manner, such as by means of a set screw 56 and a jam nut 51. The rail 53 and the bolt 52 are connected in any suitable indicating circuit so that when a defective wheel passes along the rail 53, a circuit will be closed with one or both the contact members 55, giving an indication of the defect.

While a specic form of the improvement has been described and illustratedv herein, it is to be understood that the same may be varied, within the scope of the appended claims, without departing from the spirit of the invention.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed and desired secured by Letters Patent is:

1. A missing wheel detector for use on the two rails of a railway track, comprising: a first relatively long, wheel contact member positioned to be contracted by wheels passing along one rail; a second relatively short, wheel contact member positioned to be contacted by wheels passing along the other rail approximately opposite the mid-portion of the rst contact member; and a signal circuit including both contact members; a first means actuated by said first contact when the latter is contacted to prevent current flow through said signal circuit; and a second means actuated by said second contact for causing current flow through said circuit unless said rst means is actuated.

2. A missing wheel detector for use on the two rails of a railway track, comprising: a relatively lcng contact plate positioned adjacent one rail; a relatively short contact plate positioned adjacent the other rail opposite the first plate, said plates being positioned so that they will be depressed by wheels passing along said rails; contact-opening means positioned to be actuated by depression of the long plate; contact-closing means positioned to be actuated by depression of the shorter plate; and an electrical signal circuit including both said contact-opening means and said contact-closing means, said circuit being inoperative when both plates are depressed by passing wheels.

3. A railway wheel checking device for use on the two rails of a railway track, comprising: a iirst wheel-depressible device positioned adjacent the first rail; a second Wheel-depressible device positioned adjacent the second rail; a circuitopening switch actuated from and by depression of said first device; a circuit-closing switch actuated from and by depression of said second device, said devices being positioned in the path of wheels rolling" along said rails, and being positioned directly opposite each other', said first device projecting both forwardly and rearwardly along said track beyond the extremities of said second device so that normal wheels in place on a common axle passing over said devices in either direction will depress the first device in advance of the second `device and will maintain the first device depressed during the entire cycle ofr operation of said second device; and a signal 'circuit includingV both said circuit-closing switch and circuit-opening switch.

4. A railway wheel checking device for use on the two rails of' a railway track, comprising: a first wheel-depres'sble device positioned adjacent the first rail; a second wheel-depressible device positioned adjacent the second rail; a circuitopening switch actuated from and by depression of said first device; a circuit-closing switch actuated from andby depression of said second device, said deviceswbeing positioned in the path of wheels rolling along said rails, and being positioned directly opposite each other, said first device project'ingboth forwardly and rearwardly along said track beyond the extremities of said second device so that normal wheels in place on a common axle passing over said devices in either direction will depress the first device in advance of the second device and willmaintain the rst to the rst wheel-depressible device; a circuitopening switch operable by said third device; a circuit-closing switch operable by saidl fourth device; and a second signal circuit including the latter circuit-opening and closing switches, said third device projecting forwardly and rearwardly along said track beyond the extremities of said fourth device so that when a set of normal wheels on a common axle passes in either direction over said third and fourth devices, the third device will be contacted in advance of the fourth device.

I MARION W. GIESKIENG.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the le of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 2,277,099 Harshman Mar. 24, 1942 2,429,266 Gieskieng Oct. 21, 1947 i 2,422,491 Gieskieng et al June 1, 1948 

